I remember the first time I saw this, I had a HEART ATTACK – OMG – is Google Posting that!?!

This freaked me out and recently a customer called in a panic as he believed that his personal photos just went public and he wanted to know how to make those photos private and stop the instant upload. Now that more people are getting Google+ accounts to set up authorship for their blogs, I think we’ll find a lot of people are freaked out about their privacy with Google.

But read it carefully the photos are just added…

When you go into Google+ you will see that Instant Uploads are only available to you…

So after reading this, I went into my Photos >>> then clicked on Albums>>>> To know who sees what just mouse over the little circle on the right under the photo. Here is what is means:

The first set of photos is photos you actually used in posts and who can see those photos is based on who you shared the post with.

Next you will see profile photos, who can see your profile photos is based on how you set your privacy:

After that you will see your albums…

Earth Symbol = Public, everyone can see it

Strike through Symbol = Just you

Two People Symbol = means you limited it to specific people.

So what is neat about Google Instant Upload is these photos ARE available to you wherever you are from your mobile or at home if you do want to use them in a post. Or just share them with a special friend. It’s one of the few free places that will store your photos online (which also is nice for backing them up) and that let’s those you share the photos with save the photos to their hard drive.

In conclusion, there is no need to worry that your photos will instantly be uploaded for the world to see without your permission. You have to take action to share them with your circles or the public.

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Sara Mannix is the CEO of Mannix Marketing, Inc., a Digital Marketing Agency headquartered in Glens Falls, NY. She founded Mannix Marketing in 1996 with a goal to get clients "found" on the web through organic Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The company now serves over 1500 clients worldwide and employs a team of over 30 specialists, still operating under the tagline "We Get You Found On The Web." This multifaceted company is an industry leader, specializing in organic SEO, Link Earning, SEO-friendly Website Design, Online Advertising, Social Media and more. Mannix Marketing also has one of the largest portfolios of tourism and city guides in Upstate New York. These guides, which include Albany.com, Saratoga.com, LakeGeorge.com, GlensFallsRegion.com, CliftonPark.com and Adirondack.net, reach over 10 million visitors a year. Corresponding social media profiles for the region extend this reach to millions more on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube and more.

Hello. I recently realised that all my private photos from my laptop were on my google+ account. I don’t use google+ and have no friends added but could these photos have been public? I have no idea what my privacy settings were (photos now deleted) – above you say action needs to be taken to make the photos public – is this in every instacne? I don’t ever remember clicking anything to put these photos on google+, even if it is just for storage I had no idea this had happened.

OK I’m almost convinced to use g+ on my phone and PCs, but wonder if their policy about privacy applies to incoming photos. When I first signed up on g+, I used to receive all kinds of “invites” and photos (many of supposedly cite kittens!) in my inbox. The only solution was to quit g+.
Having read your description of g+’s utility, I’d like to give it another go, but would like to know if the annoying “so and so wants to meet you or you might be interested in…” stuff has stopped or can be stopped. Can you please advise?

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